Mon oncle Antoine

Mon oncle Antoine
File:Mon oncle Antoine poster.jpg
Directed by	Claude Jutra
Produced by	Marc Beaudet
Written by	Claude Jutra Clément Perron
Starring	Jacques Gagnon Jean Duceppe Olivette Thibault Lionel Villeneuve Claude Jutra
Music by	Jean Cousineau
Cinematography	Michel Brault
Edited by	Claire Boyer Claude Jutra
Distributed by	National Film Board of Canada Janus Films
Release dates	November 12, 1971 (1971-11-12)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	French
Budget	CDN$750,000

Mon oncle Antoine (French pronunciation: ​[mɔ̃ nɔ̃kl ɑ̃twan]) is a 1971 National Film Board of Canada (Office national du film du Canada) French language drama film. Québécois director Claude Jutra co-wrote the screenplay with Clément Perron and directed what is one of the most acclaimed works in Canadian film history.

The film examines life in the Maurice Duplessis-era Asbestos Region of rural Québec prior to the Asbestos Strike of 1949. Set at Christmas time, the story is told from the point of view of a 15-year-old boy (Benoît, played by Jacques Gagnon) coming of age in a mining town. The Asbestos Strike is regarded by Québec historians as a seminal event in the years prior to the Quiet Revolution. Jutra's film is an examination of the social conditions in Québec's old, agrarian, conservative and cleric-dominated society on the eve of the social and political changes that transformed the province a decade later.

Plot

Benoit is a young teenage boy living in rural Quebec. He works at the town general store belonging to his aunt Cecile and his uncle, Antoine, who is also the town undertaker. December 24th he begins work, setting up the store display much to the delight of the town and flirting with Carmen, the young girl his uncle and aunt employ whom they treat as an adopted child.

Madame Jos Poulin eldest son, Marcel, dies that day and she places a call to the store asking if Antoine can come to take care of the body. For the first time Antoine is allowed to go with him. After they load the body into a coffin they prepare to take it home. However on the way home Benoit encourages the horse to run as quickly as possible causing the coffin to fall off the sleigh. He tries to get Antoine to help put the coffin back on the body, however Antoine who has been steadily drinking throughout the day is unable to lift the coffin. He confesses to Benoit that he hates dealing with the dead bodies and that he is miserable in his life, wishing that he had achieved his dream of owning a hotel in the U.S. like he wanted to. He further confesses that though he treats Benoit and Carmen like his own, he regrets that his wife was unable to give him children.

Angry with Antoine, Marcel manages to get him back in the sleigh and returns home. He runs up the stairs to get help from his aunt and discovers her embracing Fernand, the help, in her nightgown. Realizing what has happened Fernand takes Benoit out in the sleigh to look for the body. Traumatized by seeing his aunt and Fernad together Benoit is no help in remembering where the coffin fell off the sleigh. Eventually they make it back to the Poulin household where they find the entire Poulin family, including Jos, the father, who had been away working, around the coffin mourning the loss of Marcel.

Critical acclaim

The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 44th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. It was also entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival.

The film has twice been voted the greatest Canadian film ever in the Sight & Sound poll, which is conducted once each decade. The Toronto International Film Festival placed it first in the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time three times.

This film has been designated and preserved as a 'masterwork' by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada, a charitable non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the preservation of Canada’s audio-visual heritage.

It was featured in the Canadian Cinema television series which aired on CBC Television in 1974.

On 8 July 2008, The Criterion Collection released a special 2-disc collector's edition of the film.

On 23 December 2008, Roger Ebert put Mon Oncle Antoine on his Great Movies list.

Awards

Canadian Film Awards – Feature Film, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Actor (Jean Duceppe), Supporting Actress (Olivette Thibault), Musical Score, Overall Sound

See also

• List of submissions to the 44th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Canadian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• Watch Mon oncle Antoine at NFB.ca
• Mon oncle Antoine at IMDb
• Mon oncle Antoine at AllMovie
• Close-up: Mon oncle Antoine critique of the film and its legacy NOTE: This link is recovered
• Mon oncle Antoine article by Barry Keith Grant published in the June–September 2004 issue of Take One
• [1] Roger Ebert's Great Movies entry for the film.